Who makes better use of technology for learning in D&T? Schools or university?

Cockayne, S., Hardy, A.ORCID: 0000-0002-6970-1695, Davies, S.ORCID: 0000-0003-1151-7841 and Tinney, J.,
2013.
Who makes better use of technology for learning in D&T? Schools or university?
In: PATT27 Conference: Technology Education for the Future: A Play on Sustainability, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2-6 December 2013, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Abstract

University teacher training departments have many functions in their role as Schools for Initial Teacher Education (ITE), these include accrediting qualified teacher status, teaching subject knowledge and pedagogy, and influencing change in a school subject's content and pedagogy. This paper discusses this latter area. It can be easy for teacher training in universities to become ivory towers, modelling new ideas for curriculum delivery and content in a 'bubble' away from the real world of the school classroom. A centre of design and technology (D&T) education at an English university has undertaken research-led developments in the use of web 2.0 technologies and technology enhanced learning (TEL), modelling how they can be used in the classroom. The research examined in this paper is the next stage of the centre's curriculum development to ensure the relevance of the university curriculum content and practices. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the use of TEL in secondary schools is inconsistent and sporadic with D&T teachers using TEL, with minimal awareness of research available, which could inform their practice. This impacts on the centre's trainee teachers as they begin teaching in schools during their final year of the course, with a possible unrealistic expectation of how TEL is used in schools, based on their university experiences.